A-Z Reflection #atozchallenge

Another year, another set of haiku puzzles for the A-Z Blog Challenge! I had a lot of fun, as usual, and was delighted to be able to participate in the challenge’s 10th year anniversary. First, some stats from my posts for the challenge. (If you want to see all my puzzle poems from the beginning of the challenge, click here to go back to the Letter A on April 1.)

• The haiku with the most likes was for the letter F, at 18. I guess the idea of family really resonates with people, which is no surprise at all.
• The haiku that generated the most comments was for the letter B, at 19. Who doesn’t love birds!

In honor of the 10th anniversary, this year’s reflections can include answers to 10 questions, so here goes:

1. What did you love about the challenge this year? The same thing I love every year. I love writing the poems and creating the puzzles, and I really love the interaction with those who visit and comment.
2. What would you change about it? I can’t think of anything to change. It worked really well for me, as a blogger and a reader.
3. What was the best moment for you during this year’s challenge? My best moment happened every day, when I went to my blog and found likes and comments from my readers. My other best moment was visiting another blog and finding something that made my day. Shout out to Dena Pauling, who also based her challenge on puzzles, and included some of my geek favorites and taught me I’m really bad with plants.
4. What is the best comment your blog got during the challenge, and who left the comment? So many to choose from! I loved it when people responded to my puzzles with creative sideways answers. Here’s an example. The answer to my haiku for the letter G was Guest, and Sue of Sue’s Trifles responded, “I guessed that one quickly!”
5. Will you do the challenge again? Absolutely!
6. Was it well organized and were the hosts helpful? (Did you fill out the after survey?) Yes, the whole operation is organized very well. I enjoyed the posts the hosts created on the A-Z blog, and loved that they played along with the challenge. Yes, I filled out the survey.
7. How did you and your blog grow, change, or improve as a result of this challenge? Did you find new blogs out there to enjoy? I can’t say I broke any new ground, since this was my fourth time through the challenge. I grew my readership, though, gaining 34 new followers (Hi, everyone!). This year was crazier than usual due to some personal things in my life, I didn’t get to visit as many other blogs as I would have liked. That’s definitely a goal I’ll work harder on next time.
8. Were you on the Master List? (If you did the challenge last year, was it better this time without the daily lists?) Yes, I was on the Master List, and used it to find new blogs to check out. I can’t say I ever really used the daily lists before, so I didn’t miss them. The Master List worked out well for me.
9. Any suggestions for our future? Just keep it up. I would miss this challenge if it weren’t there
10. Any notes to the co-host team? A word of thanks to Jeremy for all his hard work on the graphics? Here’s what I have to say: Whoo hooo! Great job. *loud clapping*. Thanks so much for doing this. The graphics look great and the hosts do a wonderful job. Thanks.

We’ve come to the end
Of the A to Z Challenge
For another year

Thanks to everyone
Who worked to make it happen
And those who stopped by

It’s been fun for me
I hope you’ve had fun as well
See you all next year!